Lead holder or the like



June 18, 1963 .1. M. scHwARzAueL 3,0

LEAD HOLDER OR THE LIKE Filed July 30, 1959 INVENTOEI 7017f M 5:! warz'oy/ an Maria st United States Patent Ofi 3,094,102 Patented June 18, 1963 ice 3,094,102 LEAD HOLDER OR THE LIKE hwarziiugl, Stein, near Numberg, Germany, 7 assiguor to A. W. Faber-Caste, Stein, near Numberg, Germany Filed July 30, 1959, Ser. No. 830,517 Claims priority, application Germany J 31, 1959 1 Claim. (Cl. 120-42) the lead holder as disclosed in the above-mentioned application in which the center of gravity is placed as closely as possible toward the writing end by P Parts The tapered shaft consists of a tubular casing of a light material, for example, wood or plastic, which contains lead which is inserted into lighter rear part of the holder projecting from the tapered shaft gives the holder the even stepped upon.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to improve the lead holder or similar implement as above described by encasing the part of the plunger which projects toward the rear of the tapering shaft so as to protect the plunger from being accidentally depressed or damaged. This has the further advantage that at least this rear part of the plunger may be made of a very light material and, if desired, of a tubular shape so as to permit pencil leads to be inserted into the holder which may have a length as great as the length of the entire holder. The rear end of the tubular plunger is preferably closed to form a small knob which only needs to project from the tubular casing for a distance suflicient to allow the plunger to be depressed far enough so that the collet will be 7 opened. This tubular construction also has the advantage that the rear part of the holder is of a much lighter weight so that the center of gravity of the entire holder will be placed still more forwardly toward the writing end.

In order to improve the grip on the tapered front part of the lead holder, the same may be made either of a round or angular cross section and, if desired, its outer surface may be provided with longitudinal or transverse grooves, indentations or small projections.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description thereof, particularly when read with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a central longitudinal section of one preferred embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, the shaftlike lead holder consists of a thicker front part 3, which tapers from a point near or below the center toward both ends, and a slender rear part which primarily consists of a substantially cylindrical tubular extension or casing 4, the front end of which may be secured to the rear end of part 3 by being pressed or screwed into it. The tapered front tip 2 which is secured to the main body of part 3 by being screwed upon a threaded sleeve 8 which, in turn, is screwed into part 3. A collet l of a construction known as such is connected by screw threads 1' to a tribe 5 which extends through the rear end of the threaded sleeve 8.

The operation of the lead holder according to the invention is obvious from the drawing and similar to the operation of the lead holders according to prior designs.

already inserted to slide downwardly by its own gravity and out of the front end of the collet, As soon as knob 9 is again released when the tip of lead 6 projects sufiiciently from collet l, the jaws of the latter will again be retracted by spring 7 and be radially compressed by engaging with the metal tip 2 so as to clamp lead 6.

The two parts of the shaft of the lead holder, that is, the thicker tapered front part 3 and the cylindrical rear casing 4 may be made of plastic, or the trout part may be made of plastic or wood and the tubular rear casing 4 may be made of a light metal, for example, aluminum.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim In a mechanical lead holder or the like having a lead clamping mechanism, the combination which comprises: a tubular front section and a tubular rear section together forming a. casing, a plunger guided in the longitudinal opening of said casing and having a relatively short portion projecting out of the rear section of the casing so that the major portion of said plunger is within the confines of and thereby protected by the rear section of said casing, a collet guided within the front section of said casing, a collet guided within the front section of said casing and connected to said plunger for gripping and releasing a lead piece or the like, spring means within said front section, said spring means surrounding said plunger with one end thereof abutting against said casing and the other end thereof abutting against said plunger,

the front end of said front section being conical and a front portion of said collet being pressed against the forward edge of said front end by said spring means, the front section of said casing having a double-conical outer surface convering from a point near the longitudinal center thereof toward both ends so that the largest diameter of the front section of said casing is at its longitudinal center, said rear section of said casing having a length substantially equal to the length of said front section of said casing and having a smaller diameter than the narrowest portion of the front section of said casing, said rear section of said casing being slightly tapered rearwardly, and said lead holder having its center of gravity within said tubular front section of said casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

